Tax Man May Now Be Invisible, But You Still Gotta Pay
Him

W hat's in a name? If it happens to be "Internal Revenue Service," plenty. Perhaps that's why those three little words -- whose very utterance is enough to make some people shudder -- have been stricken from the 1040 payment voucher.

As part of a law enacted last summer to overhaul the agency, taxes owed the federal government will no longer be payable to the dreaded IRS, but to the United States Treasury, which oversees it. The law, which passed after Congress heard unflattering tales of abuse by the agency, also extends taxpayer rights. To wit: It will now be more difficult for the IRS to seize your home or to hold your estranged, but innocent, spouse accountable for your unpaid tax bill.

Among other user-friendly features of the new and, one hopes, improved IRS are a 'round-the-clock, toll-free hotline for those taxing questions, and, for those who might be wondering how to kill time and get free advice on a Saturday, more opportunities to visit IRS offices on weekends.

Erasing the IRS name seemed like a natural. "When people write out checks, it isn't just going to fund the IRS, it's going to the federal government, which funds a wide array of things," says an agency official. But from a taxpayer's standpoint, nothing's really changed. If money's owed, it's still due April 15, regardless of whose name is on the check.

MONDAY

It's Presidents' Day, and U.S. markets, banks and government offices are closed. This will likely be one of the best such days ever for Bill Clinton, who spent his first weekend free of concerns about impeachment and will hold talks today in Mexico with President Ernesto Zedillo.

China's markets, banks and government offices close all week in celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, which begins tomorrow. Markets are closed in South Korea through Wednesday, and in Vietnam, Portugal and Taiwan through Thursday.

"Whatever turns you on" might be the pitch behind an auction that starts today on the Internet of O.J. Simpson's possessions, including his Heisman Trophy and No. 32 football jersey. The court-ordered sale will help meet a $32.5 million civil judgment against him in the 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Simpson was acquitted of the murders by a criminal court.

Representatives of small-stock bourses from Continental Europe and London meet in Paris to discuss creation of a single pan-European small-cap market.

Day

YieldsWhenIssued

YieldsLastAuction

T

$15.0 bil.

3-month

4.435%

4.420%

6-month

4.435%

4.420%

As of Friday afternoon.

TUESDAY

New York Stock Exchange triggers to restrict arbitrage trading at a 50-point change in the DJIA from the previous close will now be set at a 2% value of the DJIA, which will get a numerical value at the start of each quarter, based on an average closing over the preceding month.

Removal of the limit will occur at a 1% change back, rather than the former 25 points within the previous close. Eliminated are rules that had diverted program trading orders temporarily if futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index declined by 12 points from the previous close.

NFL owners meet in Atlanta to consider the sale of the Washington Redskins.

Markets, banks, businesses and government offices are closed in Malaysia and Singapore today and tomorrow, and in Hong Kong and Greece today through Thursday.

WEDNESDAY

Shareholders of both
Tele-Communications Inc.
and
AT&T
vote on Ma Bell's proposed $43 billion acquisition of the cable giant. AT&T, which said it has 97% of the regulatory approvals needed, hopes to close the deal by mid-March.

How to detect, prevent and combat money laundering is the subject of a conference in London. Speakers include Andrew Lewis, head of the British Treasury's financial crime branch.

THURSDAY

The outlook for oil-services companies is discussed at a conference in New York sponsored by the New York Society of Security Analysts. Among the firms represented: Stolt Comex Seaway, Petroleum Geo-Services, Transocean Offshore,
Smith International
,
Rowan
and
Coflexip
.

All eyes will be on Russia's ailing President Boris Yeltsin if, as scheduled, he meets with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and European Union officials in Moscow.

FRIDAY

Consumer prices showed a slight uptick, to 0.2% in January from a 0.1% advance in December, according to consensus forecasts. The numbers arrive this morning.

President Jacques Chirac is in Washington for talks with President Clinton.

SATURDAY

Group of Seven finance ministers meet to discuss a report on the supervision of financial institutions and speculative hedge funds.

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